Senators-stocked teams win NHL All-Star skills competition

By John Wawrow

The Associated Press

OTTAWA -- Patrick Kane's Superman cape and Zdeno Chara's blistering hot slap shot weren't enough to beat Daniel Alfredsson and his team stocked with hometown favorites in the NHL All-Star skills competition Saturday night.

Team Alfredsson beat Team Chara 21-12, easily clinching the victory in the final-round shootout challenge. Alfredsson had one of his team's 10 shootout goals in outscoring Chara 10-3.

That was enough to get the hometown crowd on its feet, cheering on a Senators-stocked team that Alfredsson selected in the draft Thursday night.

Chara did break his own skills competition record for hardest shot with a blast at 108.8 mph. That bettered the mark of 105.9 he set in Raleigh last year.

The two teams will now face off today in the All-Star Game.

Chara gave his team a shot -- literally and physically -- by helping his team to a 3-2 win in the fifth round of the competition, cutting Alfredsson's lead to 11-9.

"I tried to do my best. Obviously I wanted to do it over here as well. I had great years in Ottawa and I'm happy I could do it," Chara said in an interview broadcast over the video scoreboard, which drew plenty of applause. Chara spent four seasons with the Senators before signing with the Bruins in 2006.

All four of Chara's shots actually bettered the record he set last year as well as his closest opponent, Team Alfredsson defenseman Shea Weber, whose best was timed at 106 mph.

Kane, the Blackhawks forward and Team Chara member, provided the entertainment value in the breakaway challenge. He wore Clark Kent glasses and had teammate Marian Hossa tie a Superman cape around his neck for Kane's his first attempt. Kane's scored on his first shot, diving chest-first to the ice and using his left hand to glove the puck across to his stick to tap it in.

On his second chance, Kane used a mock puck which split in two when he took a slap shot. That wasn't enough to beat Kane in the only event that was determined by a fan vote.

In the relay challenge, the Sedin twins, Henrik and Daniel showed remarkable skill in the passing portion, in being uncanny in their ability to thread a pass into nets spread across the neutral zone.

Thanks in part to the Sedins, Team Alfredsson won both relays to score two points and earned an additional point finishing it in the fastest time -- 2:08.376 -- to build a 9-6 lead over Chara.

The loudest cheers came for Alfredsson, who was greeted by chants of "Alfie! Alfie! Alfie!" even before he stepped on the ice.

By comparison, Team Chara was certainly the "visiting" team, especially when featuring three members of Ottawa's provincial rival Toronto Maple Leafs. There were loud choruses of boos for Kessel, Joffrey Lupul and Dion Phaneuf.

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